Air opening on VC Defiant NC

[dtabor]

I have a VC Defiant NC stove. When I open the air control lever on the right (facing the stove), where/what is actually opening on the inside to let the air in? After awhile of burning, it seems that it doesnt let much air in. Im thinking there might be ash buildup near the opening even though I clean out ashes regularly.

D

 

[webbie]

I have not looked at that particular stove, but most of these models put primary air in so it drops across the front glass (down) - you should see manifolds up above that door frame. It is almost impossible to cut these off, but there are two possibilities - if that stove is thermostatic, then when the stove gets hotter the draft shuts down (as it should be).

Also, I recall one member recently having problems with his being stuck, but if yours changes I doubt that is the case.

 

[dtabor]

Hmm, Its a brand new stove and Ive noticed that when I have a good bed of coals in the AM to restart it, I put in some dry small splits and open everything up for the air but it takes its merry time. I thought it was "normal" until one day I put those in there and since it was slow, I opened the ash door to empty it. Those splits in there took off. I close the door and lock it and it slows down again. Ive seen the same thing comparing the air intake to when I open the top load door. It roars to life with the door open but slows when its just the air control.

That is the reason I thought maybe it wasnt opening all the way or somehow blocked by ashes as thats the only thing thats been in there since I started burning. Maybe its acting normal. I havent worked with it enough to know what "normal" is yet anyway.

 

[elkimmeg]

I think you have draft issues plus not being real cold yet all stoves experience poorer drafting. Please explain you current connection and chimney setup

 

[dtabor]

Pardon the terminology, Im not up on what everything is called!! Draft seems fine as when there is smoke and fire, it is being sucked toward the chimney opening in a visible manner. But, anyway, setup is the pipe comes out the horizontal config of the stove, short run to a T connection and a straight shot up the brick interior chimney with 25-30' of one piece stainless liner to the outside. Im thinking if anything it is just my lack of knowledge of this new stove so far and the fact that its not REALLY cold outside yet. The one thing that seems to be working great is the Everburn from what Ive read on here and gotten from Elk etc on operation.

 

[Corie]

You don't mention having the bypass damper open? Was it open and the flames were still lazy?

 

[seaken]

I have a VC Defiant NC stove. When I open the air control lever on the right (facing the stove), where/what is actually opening on the inside to let the air in? After awhile of burning, it seems that it doesnt let much air in. Im thinking there might be ash buildup near the opening even though I clean out ashes regularly.

D

The air control is a direct drive linkage, it is not thermostatic. You can confirm it is connected properly by removing the air channel above the front door. The air channel is held in place with two bolts and is gasketed in place. Pretty easy access.

The Everburn models are tuned pretty tight. I have noticed that when the heat is low that the air supply is not always sufficient to get the fire going quickly. The key is to use lots of dry kindling, or re-load before the coal bed gets too small. Keep the heat up and it works well. It does not like wet or "green" wood. Good dry kindling and well seasoned splits work good. If your wood is not as good you should use the front door to supply more air instead of the ash door. If you use the ash door you may damage your grate or front castings.

Once the fire is going and the coal bed is good the Everburn is typically harder to turn down than some other models. Technique and good wood will be needed to get it all to work right. Once you get it down you'll love the results. But this is one of the objections to this type of stove. Some folks want things to be simpler and will prefer a more typical box stove and a simple baffle with secondary air supply.

Sean

 

[dtabor]

Corie, This is with the bypass open as in trying to get it fired back up from coals.

Seaken,

I think what you are saying is the case. Before we get into the REAL cold stuff, Im using my time with this thing to learn, "what happens when I do this". The ash door part was only incidental that I happened to open it to empty and saw the results inside! I have since read posts on here about "when" to empty that thing!

Last night I got home and started up a fire. Got going well and at bed time I reloaded for the overnight, let it char up and the temps rise back up and then flipped the bypass lever. The rolling gas type flames worked and the temps held on the stovetop. I monitored it for awhile until bed and then closed down the air a bit. It did seem to take awhile for things to settle in there after closing it up. This AM, about 8 hours later I woke up to the temps being still just around 350-400 and inside there was a fantastic coal bed. When I flipped both levers open so I could reload, the coals even flared up a bit as there were a couple of chunks that hadnt finished coaling up. I put on some small splits and it took off. I slowly reloaded it up, let it char up, temps up, flipped the bypass and the Everburn kicked in good again. It hung around 550-600 after that.

Seeing the difference in activity between my other burns and the larger, hotter coal bed this AM, Im thinking that might have been my issue. Also, as in past posts, I think Im still well under the learning curve. Im not used to the new style stoves, just the old smoke dragon types.

Thanks for all the replies to this! Im sure more questions will come along as we get into colder weather and longer burns!

D

 

[elkimmeg]

Sounds like you are learning the routine keep it up and be sure you post in to help others learn with you.

fantastic to have that temps and coals in the morning ? again sounds like you are perfecting the routine

 

[dtabor]

You bet I will Elk....If things work like this when it gets really cold in the winter months, I will be perfectly happy with my decision to purchase this new stove!

 

[swestall]

I have the same stove, have experienced the same issues and lessons. The CAT version was not so sensitive but the CAT got plugged easily. The NC is sensitive but when you get those coals up, its seems to perform very well. I am curious to see about the colder temps and how that affects the burn: one thing for sure when the everburn gets going, this stove radiates a lot of heat. I took the entire draft control apart. The lever swings a simple flapper open/closed. I made a small change to the linkage to provide a better stop (the existing one just has the linkage hitting the front casting for a stop) by cutting off a small piece and then welding in a 1/4-20 nut to the inside for a more firm stop. There is no control on the secondary burn airflow beyond the draft control lever (told to me by smart people on this site) The diagram of the stove is a bit confusing but confirms that.
The stove is extremely tight (previously pointed out) so you have to get it hot and a good updraft going before it burns right. One thing that has proved useful is to try to have an open airflow at the bottom of the splits while you are getting things going and on into the everburn. All in all, this one is going to take some getting use to but it might keep us warm longer and use less wood. I'm looking forward to Spring when I've been through the first season. I also had a problem when building the first fires: the glass was smoking over. Finally, I just let it burn through a smaller load with the primary open this gave me a good coal base for the Everburn and burned all the blackening off the glass. Bottom line is the NC is harder to get use to than the CAT. I think they both will perform well but the NC will be easier to maintain over time and once use to it we'll just do it because we'll be use to the routine.

 

[dtabor]

Swestall,

Sounds like we're both learning the quirks of this thing. We'll have to keep each other up to date on tips, tricks and findings as we get into the "real" winter burning season.

D

 

[swestall]

Yes, that is a good idea. This thing drove me nuts when I first installed it. I thought the air input was plugged or something. I pulled it all apart, vacumed it out from both ends, etc. In the end, there was no problem, just that you need to get it HOT when you get it going. At some point I had a "DUH" moment and just let it go. One thing different from the CAT version was it didn't take off on me; it burned up to about 600 or so and jsut stayed there. That's when I decided to let it go and burn off the blackened glass: it did a fine job of that. So, you could say it is slower at getting to the point that it will burn well in secondary but it seems to stay there longer. I had coals in the morning with less wood than I'd had with teh CAT version. I still have the CAT model and am going to refurb it and sell it to someone who wants that one. They are both OK. We can and should stay in touch. You can email me. SW

 

[elkimmeg]

Big hint in the morning rake the coals in front of the everburn shoe center back of the stove

this will create even faster startups

 

[dtabor]

So putting them in the back center will be faster than front center where the air is? I'll give that a try in the AM. Supposed to be 25 tonite.....

 

[elkimmeg]

primary air and everburn technology air is also injected in by the shoe the front air is only for the air wash system to keep the glass clean

 

[swestall]

Sometimes I think Everburn means, will it ever burn.... :red: